WE do not covet the post of Prime Minister, nor yet that of Lord
Chancellor, especially if, when Parliament re-assembles, a recent
judicial appointment should be sharply discussed. We can think of the
choice of a new Speaker without discontent with our own lowly lot, and
at the present time envy of the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
is not the predominant feeling in our breasts. But of all places, posts,
offices, appointments, and dignities within the reach of an Englishman,
the one which excites in us the least desire is that of "Examiner of
Plays."
Who, with a heart, can resist feelings of the deepest commiseration, the
most profound pity for the sufferings of another, when he hears that in
twelve short years it has been the unhappy lot of the present Examiner
to read one thousand eight hundred dramatic pieces--one thousand eight
hundred tragedies, comedies, melodramas, farces, pantomimes, burlesques,
and extravaganzas? There are labours which no salary can remunerate,
services which no fees can requite.
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